Mark Megehee, collections specialist for Fort Sill National
Historic Landmark and Museum. A tribal member of the
Sac and Fox Nation, Megehee has worked with the museum's
collections for 22 years... VIEW ORIGINAL
FORT SILL, Okla. (Aug. 22, 2014) -- Mark Megehee will soon become part of the fabric of Fort Sill history after working here nearly 30 years.
A collections specialist for the Fort Sill National Historic Landmark and Museum, Megehee has long appreciated the post's history before the turn of the 20th century.
"The Army museum artifacts tell us so much about the way that a Soldier on the plains interacted with his surroundings, whether it was in battle or garrison life; exploration or the Army hospital; because it was a big part of the American experience. Knowing how the Army did business, what the Soldier carried with him, what he used and how he fought, is a fascinating story. And, it has been a pleasure working with the museum collections especially, which has encompassed the greater part of my career," he said.
"I came to Fort Sill in March 1992. I transferred from the Frontier Army Museum at Fort Leavenworth, [Kan.], where I was the director and curator for three and a half years," said Megehee. "Before that I broke in with the Army as curator of collections for the Noncommissioned Officer Museum at Fort Bliss, Texas, way back in 1984. Then I was the curator of the Air Defense Artillery Museum at Fort Bliss, from 1985-88; and then I became the Field Artillery Museum specialist."
Along the way, he earned a master's in history from the University of Oklahoma, to add to several other degrees, which have given him a broad spectrum of expertise.
But, his work with Army museums will now end as he accepted the staff curator position for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Museum Programs, near Washington, D.C.
To him it is like coming full circle to work with Indian Affairs, since he is a member of the Sac and Fox Nation. He grew up around Oklahoma City, spending time on tribal land near Stroud and Shawnee, Okla.
His grandmother was full-blood Sac and Fox and his grandfather was Irish. His mother was a half-blood member of the tribe.
"One of the dimension that we have here at the historical museum is the Native American collections. I would be remiss if I didn't say, as a tribal member myself, that this is an area that the Army has gone into here at Fort Sill with tremendous success. That's because of the credibility, and of the commitment to safeguarding the treasures of the tribes. Whatever it is we have here from the affiliated tribes and beyond, people feel good that they have entrusted their heirlooms to the Fort Sill museum," Megehee said.
He pointed to two pinnacles of work in his career. One was working with artifacts.
"You spend a half-day or a day, and you concentrate on it. You clean it and stabilize it. At the end of the day, you have nothing to show except that you have one little piece of history that you hold in your gloved hands, that is in a better condition than when you found it. You have turned back the clock of time, so the current generation, and next will be able to enjoy, learn and benefit from that artifact. That's a great satisfaction," Megehee said.
"The other pinnacle of my time here is interacting with an audience. Whether as a living history re-enactor, or an interpreter in plain clothes, I could capture people's attention and introduce them to characters from the past. When we are done they will feel that they know them. Those are the two pinnacles: one is lonesome work, the other very social."
Each year Megehee portrayed the Rev. Frank Hall Wright during the museum's annual Candlelight Stroll in December. He felt a close kindred spirit with the reverend.
"Wright was mixed blood, and I am mixed blood. He had a strong spiritual background, and I prepared for the ministry in school down in Texas, where I got a bachelor's degree in theology. Wright was an early-day missionary to several tribes surrounding Fort Sill in the 1890s. So I feel a close affinity with him," Megehee said.
When he portrayed the reverend in Grierson Chapel, visitors often thanked him for bringing spirituality of the plains to life.
"People will come to me after a presentation and say 'Mr. Megehee, I had the best time I have ever had in my life.' So it's a very humbling experience when people say that," he said.
Megehee said over the past 22 years, which was the greater part of his career, it has been a pleasure working with the museum collections.
"I give tours and I love teaching classes, but I always go back to the artifacts, to the "real-McCoys," if you will, because that's what people come to museums to learn about. Someone can read a book about a weapon, or they can go on the Internet and learn a lot about it, but when they come to this Army museum they see the actual weapon, the actual uniforms and that's what we have here," he said.
"I would say my contributions to the Fort Sill museum include a great deal of effort recognizing and prioritizing those items, whether they are military or Native American; to give them attention so they might receive contracts of restoration. We have been very successful getting some Native American and military gear restored; I am very proud of that," Megehee said.
"It has been a holistic experience -- working with the collection and the audiences, developing exhibits or working with exhibit designers. At Fort Sill, the sky is the limit, because we have Old West, the Indians, artillery, the Buffalo Soldiers and the stories about some of the people who were famous or infamous who were here and need to have their stories told."
"They say no job is perfect, but in my years with Army museums I have had wonderful experiences. There's a high caliber of people in the Army museum business," he said.
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